Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A systematic review of measurement properties of the instruments measuring health-related quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

  • Review
  • Published:
Quality of Life Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The systematic review of patient-reported outcome instruments can allow the selection of the most appropriate instrument for use in research and clinical practice. There has been no systematic review of the measurement properties of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)-specific health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) instruments. The purposes of this study were to identify all available instruments for measuring the IBS-specific HRQOL and to determine which is the most appropriate instrument to apply in clinical practice.

Methods

A systematic review study was conducted. The MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases were searched. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the COSMIN (COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments) checklist. The measurement property results of each study were assessed using Terwee’s quality criteria.

Results

Seven instruments were identified: The Irritable Bowel Syndrome–Quality of Life (IBS-QOL) instrument was the only one that had been analyzed in multiple studies, with each of the remaining six instruments only being analyzed in a single psychometric study. The IBS-QOL demonstrated moderate positive evidence for internal consistency and reliability and is the best instrument based on the currently available evidence.

Conclusions

Even though the IBS-QOL is currently the best instrument, there is conflicting evidence for its underlying structural validity. The factor structure or dimensionality of the IBS-QOL needs to be elucidated further.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lovell, R. M., & Ford, A. C. (2012). Global prevalence of and risk factors for irritable bowel syndrome: a meta-analysis. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 10(7), 712–721. doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2012.02.029.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. American College of Gastroenterology Task Force on Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Brandt, L. J., Chey, W. D., Foxx-Orenstein, A. E., Schiller, L. R., et al. (2009). An evidence-based position statement on the management of irritable bowel syndrome. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 104(suppl 1), S1–S35. doi:10.1038/ajg.2008.122.

    Google Scholar 

  3. United States Food and Drug Administration. (2009). Guidance for industry. Patient-reported outcome measures: use in medical product development to support labeling claims. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/Guidances/UCM193282.pdf. Accessed July 06, 2016.

  4. Szende, Á., Leidy, N. K., & Revicki, D. (2005). Health-related quality of life and other patient-reported outcomes in the European centralized drug regulatory process: a review of guidance documents and performed authorizations of medicinal products 1995 to 2003. Value in Health, 8(5), 534–548. doi:10.1111/j.1524-4733.2005.00051.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Calvert, M. J., & Freemantle, N. (2003). Use of health-related quality of life in prescribing research. Part 1: why evaluate health-related quality of life? Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 28(6), 513–521. doi:10.1046/j.0269-4727.2003.00521.x.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Smith, G. D. (2012). Assessment of health related quality of life (HRQOL) in irritable bowel syndrome. Gastrointestinal Nursing, 10(5), 31–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. de Vet, H. C. W., Terwee, C. B., Mokkink, L. B., & Knol, D. L. (2011). Measurement in medicine: A practical guide (practical guides to biostatistics and epidemiology). London: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  8. Bijkerk, C. J., de Wit, N. J., Muris, J. W., Jones, R. H., Knottnerus, J. A., & Hoes, A. W. (2003). Outcome measures in irritable bowel syndrome: comparison of psychometric and methodological characteristics. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 98, 122–127. doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2003.07158.x.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Wong, R. K., & Drossman, D. A. (2010). Quality of life measures in irritable bowel syndrome. Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 4(3), 277–284. doi:10.1586/egh.10.19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Terwee, C. B., Jansma, E. P., Riphagen, I. I., & de Vet, H. C. W. (2009). Development of a methodological PubMed search filter for finding studies on measurement properties of measurement instruments. Quality of Life Research, 18(8), 1115–1123. doi:10.1007/s11136-009-9528-5.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Lea, R., & Whorwell, P. J. (2001). Quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome. Pharmacoeconomics, 19(6), 643–653. doi:10.2165/00019053-200119060-00003.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Terwee, C. B., Mokkink, L. B., Knol, D. L., Ostelo, R. W. J. G., Bouter, L. M., & de Vet, H. C. W. (2012). Rating the methodological quality in systematic reviews of studies on measurement properties: a scoring system for the COSMIN checklist. Quality of Life Research, 21(4), 651–657. doi:10.1007/s11136-011-9960-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Terwee, C. B., Bot, S. D., de Boer, M. R., van der Windt, D. A., Knol, D. L., Dekker, J., et al. (2007). Quality criteria were proposed for measurement properties of health status questionnaires. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 60(1), 34–42. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2006.03.012.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Park, T., Reilly-Spong, M., & Gross, C. R. (2013). Mindfulness: a systematic review of instruments to measure an emergent patient-reported outcome (PRO). Quality of Life Research, 22(10), 2639–2659. doi:10.1007/s11136-013-0395-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Lee, J., Lee, E.-H., Kim, C. J., & Moon, S. H. (2015). Diabetes-related emotional distress instruments: a systematic review of measurement properties. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 52(12), 1868–1878. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2015.07.004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Patrick, D. L., Drossman, D. A., Frederick, I. O., DiCesare, J., & Puder, K. L. (1998). Quality of life in persons with irritable bowel syndrome: Development and validation of a new measure. Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 43(2), 400–411. doi:10.1023/A:1018831127942.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Drossman, D. A., Patrick, D. L., Whitehead, W. E., Toner, B. B., Diamant, N. E., Hu, Y., et al. (2000). Further validation of the IBS-QOL: a disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaire. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 95, 999–1007. doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2000.01941.x.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Park, J. M., Choi, M. G., Oh, J. H., Cho, Y. K., Lee, I. S., Kim, S. W., et al. (2006). Cross-cultural validation of irritable bowel syndrome quality of life in Korea. Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 51(8), 1478–1484. doi:10.1007/s10620-006-9084-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Drossman, D., Morris, C. B., Hu, Y., Toner, B. B., Diamant, N., Whitehead, W. E., et al. (2007). Characterization of health related quality of life (HRQOL) for patients with functional bowel disorder (FBD) and its response to treatment. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 102, 1442–1453. doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2007.01283.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Huang, W. W., Zhou, F. S., Bushnell, D. M., Diakite, C., & Yang, X. H. (2007). Cultural adaptation and application of the IBS-QOL in China: a disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaire. Quality of Life Research, 16(6), 991–996. doi:10.1007/s11136-006-9141-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Kanazawa, M., Drossman, D. A., Shinozaki, M., Sagami, Y., Endo, Y., Palsson, O. S., et al. (2007). Translation and validation of a Japanese version of the irritable bowel syndrome-quality of life measure (IBS-QOL-J). Biopsychosocial Medicine, 1, 6. doi:10.1186/1751-0759-1-6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Schmulson, M., Ortiz, O., Mejia-Arangure, J. M., Hu, Y. B., Morris, C., Arcila, D., et al. (2007). Further validation of the IBS-QOL: Female Mexican IBS patients have poorer quality of life than females from North Carolina. Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 52(11), 2950–2955. doi:10.1007/s10620-006-9689-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Gholamrezaei, A., Zolfaghari, B., Farajzadegan, Z., Nemati, K., Daghaghzadeh, H., Tavakkoli, H., et al. (2011). Linguistic validation of the irritable bowel syndrome-quality of life questionnaire for Iranian patients. Acta Medica Iranica, 49(6), 390–395.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Haghayegh, S. A., Neshatdoost, H., Drossman, D. A., Asgari, K., Soulati, S. K., & Adibi, P. (2012). Psychometric characteristics of the Persian version of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Quality of Life Questionnaire (P-IBS-QOL). Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 28(2), 312–317.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Andrae, D. A., Patrick, D. L., Drossman, D. A., & Covington, P. S. (2013). Evaluation of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Quality of Life (IBS-QOL) questionnaire in diarrheal-predominant irritable bowel syndrome patients. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 11, 208. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-11-208.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Jafari, P., Asadollahi, Z., Moini, M., & Seyed Mirzaie, M. (2013). Health related quality of life in Iranian patients with irritable bowel syndrome: Reliability and validity of the Persian version of the IBS-QOL. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 15(8), 723–728. doi:10.5812/ircmj.4605.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Masaeli, N., Kheirabadi, G. R., Afshar, H., Daghaghzadeh, H., Maracy, M. R., Assadolahi, F., et al. (2013). Validity, reliability, and factor analysis of Persian version of quality of life questionnaire for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-QOL-34). Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 18(6), 492–496.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Andrae, D. A., Covington, P. S., & Patrick, D. L. (2014). Item-level assessment of the irritable bowel syndrome quality of life questionnaire in patients with diarrheal irritable bowel syndrome. Clinical Therapeutics, 36(5), 663–679. doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2014.04.009.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Hahn, B. A., Kirchdoerfer, L. J., Fullerton, S., & Mayer, E. (1997). Evaluation of a new quality of life questionnaire for patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 11(3), 547–552. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2036.1997.00168.x.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Wong, E., Guyatt, G. H., Cook, D. J., Griffith, L. E., & Irvine, E. J. (1997). Development of a questionnaire to measure quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. The European Journal of Surgery. Supplement, 583, 50–56.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Chassany, O., Marquis, P., Scherrer, B., Read, N. W., Finger, T., Bergmann, J. F., et al. (1999). Validation of a specific quality of life questionnaire for functional digestive disorders. Gut, 44, 527–533. doi:10.1136/gut.44.4.527.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Groll, D., Vanner, S. J., Depew, W. T., DaCosta, L. R., Simon, J. B., Groll, A., et al. (2002). The IBS-36: A new quality of life measure for irritable bowel syndrome. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 97, 962–971. doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2002.05616.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Longstreth, G. F., Bolus, R., Naliboff, B., Chang, L., Kulich, K. R., Carlsson, J., et al. (2005). Impact of irritable bowel syndrome on patients’ lives: Development and psychometric documentation of a disease-specific measure for use in clinical trials. European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 17(4), 411–420.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Lei, P., Lei, G., Tian, J., Zhou, Z., Zhao, M., & Wan, C. (2014). Development and validation of the irritable bowel syndrome scale under the system of quality of life instruments for chronic diseases QLICD-IBS: Combinations of classical test theory and generalizability theory. International Journal of Colorectal Disease, 29(10), 1245–1255. doi:10.1007/s00384-014-1976-x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Revicki, D. A., Osoba, D., Fairclough, D., Barofsky, I., Berzon, R., Leidy, N. K., et al. (2000). Recommendations on health-related quality of life research to support labeling and promotional claims in the United States. Quality of Life Research, 9(8), 887–900. doi:10.1023/A:1008996223999.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Mokkink, L. B., Terwee, C. B., Patrick, D. L., Alonso, J., Stratford, P. W., Knol, D. L., et al. (2010). The COSMIN study reached international consensus on taxonomy, terminology, and definitions of measurement properties for health-related patient-reported outcomes. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 63(7), 737–745. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2010.02.006.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Fayers, P. M., & Machin, D. (2007). Quality of life: The assessment, analysis, and interpretation of patient-related outcomes (2nd ed.). West Sussex: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  38. Schellingerhout, J. M., Verhagen, A. P., Heymans, M. W., Koes, B. W., de Vet, H. C., & Terwee, C. B. (2012). Measurement properties of disease-specific questionnaires in patients with neck pain: A systematic review. Quality of Life Research, 21(4), 659–670. doi:10.1007/s11136-011-9965-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Chang, L., & Drossman, D. A. (2010). Rome foundation endpoints and outcomes conference 2009: optimizing clinical trials in FGID. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 105, 722–730. doi:10.1038/ajg.2010.49.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Burke, L. B., Kennedy, D. L., Miskala, P. H., Papadopoulos, E. J., & Trentacosti, A. M. (2008). The use of patient-reported outcome measures in the evaluation of medical products for regulatory approval. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 84(2), 281–283. doi:10.1038/clpt.2008.128.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications and programming (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Abma, I. L., van der Wees, P. J., Veer, V., Westert, G. P., & Rovers, M. (2016). Measurement properties of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA): A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 28, 14–27. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2015.07.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Boger, E. J., Demain, S., & Latter, S. (2013). Self-management: a systematic review of outcome measures adopted in self-management interventions for stroke. Disability and Rehabilitation, 35(17), 1415–1428. doi:10.3109/09638288.2012.737080.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Lee, J., Kim, S. H., Moon, S. H., & Lee, E.-H. (2014). Measurement properties of rheumatoid arthritis-specific quality-of-life questionnaires: Systematic review of the literature. Quality of Life Research, 23(10), 2779–2791. doi:10.1007/s11136-014-0716-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Nursing, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South Korea

    Jiyeon Lee

  2. Graduate School of Public Health, Ajou University, 164 World cup-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, 443-380, South Korea

    Eun-Hyun Lee

  3. Department of Nursing, Graduate School, Inha University, Incheon, South Korea

    Seung Hei Moon

Authors
  1. Jiyeon Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eun-Hyun Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Seung Hei Moon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eun-Hyun Lee.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 16 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (DOCX 19 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lee, J., Lee, EH. & Moon, S.H. A systematic review of measurement properties of the instruments measuring health-related quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Qual Life Res 25, 2985–2995 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1421-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1421-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation